


Jaws Just Ain't Good

by crushondeanlikeafairy



Category: S.W.A.T. (TV 2017)
Genre: Forgiveness, Friendship, Gen, Original Character(s), Reminiscing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 16:57:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19949686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crushondeanlikeafairy/pseuds/crushondeanlikeafairy
Summary: An outing to the farmer's market with Luca turns into an opportunity for personal growth for Street.





	Jaws Just Ain't Good

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying to flush out where I'm going with my other fic, so I decided to go into my old drafts and finish this one up for inspiration. I don't know if y'all watch Mom, but I got the idea for this from that show.

It was a nice spring day. The sun was shining, the trees were blooming, and the birds had finally returned from a winter away. It was a typical sunny California day with not a cloud in the sky and the temperature was finally above seventy degrees again. Born and raised here, Street didn’t do too well in the cold, missing the sun when it wasn’t around.

Presently, he was walking with Luca through a farmer’s market held in the parking lot at The Village in Woodland Hills. It was open the first Saturday of every month and Luca had been wanting to go for months but had never had anyone to go with. They had a lot of holistic healing booths. Street had been turning him down every time Luca asked, but the guy finally got desperate enough that he offered dish duty for a week and Street couldn’t turn that down.

“What do you mean you’ve never seen Jaws?!” Luca practically shouted, causing Street to chuckle.

The type of people who usually frequented farmer’s markets were generally quiet, and Luca very much not, so whenever he spoke the people around them would startle and turn their heads.

“It doesn’t look good,” Street shrugged.

Luca spluttered, “It doesn’t- But you haven’t even seen it!”

“And I’m not going to,” Street laughed. He actually wouldn’t mind watching Jaws someday, if for no other reason than to see what the hype was about, but riling Luca up was just too much fun.

“Oh, you’re going to see it alright,” Luca swore, “Mark my words.”

“Are you threatening me over a movie from the sixties?”

“Seventies!” Luca answered indignantly, “And, yes.”

They walked around for a bit longer and Street actually saw some cool stuff. He bought a square of the most delicious fudge he’d ever eaten. Eventually, they came to a booth carrying natural, herbal remedies. Luca was drawn to it like a bee to honey with Street dragging behind him, finishing off his fudge. He wadded up the napkin it had been wrapped in, shoving it into his pocket.

“Look, dude!” Luca exclaimed, “They have Valerian! And Passionflower!”  
“These words mean nothing to me,” Street said, casually looking over the different leaves and flowers scattered across the table.

“They’re for stress,” Luca explained offhandedly, picking up a jar of pointy, green leaves that Street thought kind of looked like mint.

“You really know your stuff,” the man running the booth commented. He looked like he was in his early thirties. He was skinny and about the same height as Luca, with long jet black hair pulled upwards into a loose bun and five o’clock shadow on his angular jaw. His light complexion causing his dark brown eyes to stand out from the rest of his face.

“I’ve been into this stuff for years,” Luca said, “You’ve got some nice stuff here.”

“Thanks!” the man smiled, “I grow most of it myself.”

“That’s awesome, man!” Luca said excitedly, “I’d love to try that someday. But from what I’ve read about it, it’s hard!”

“It is! A lot of them require very specific care,” the man agreed, putting his hand out for Luca to shake, “The name’s Teddy.”

“Dominic Luca,” he responded, taking the offered hand then gesturing to his friend, “The uncultured guy is my buddy, Jim Street.”

“Jim…” Teddy said thoughtfully, before a beaming smile crossed his face, “I thought I recognized you!”

Street hadn’t been paying attention, choosing instead to watch the street performer across the parking lot. But he turned back to the discussion when he’d heard Teddy say his name, “Excuse me?”

“Remember me?” the guy asked excitedly, “Teddy Belmore. We were foster brothers. The Millers.”

Street looked the guy up and down, realizing then that Teddy did kind of look familiar. It had been years, so he didn’t look quite like Street remembered him but it was definitely the same guy. And if it really was the same Teddy, he did not want to be having this conversation anymore. He was trying to figure out how to respond when Luca butted in.

“No way! You guys know each other?”

“Come on, man!” Teddy said, “I know you remember me!”

“I do,” Street answered curtly, turning toward Luca, “I’m gonna get going. I just remembered I had some stuff to do today.”

“What?” Luca asked, surprised, “You told me you didn’t have any plans today.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Street saw Teddy’s face go from happy to sad.

“That’s why I said I just remembered,” Street responded, turning away from the booth and heading across the parking lot. He heard footsteps coming up behind him and sighed, expecting it to be Luca running after him. He was surprised when it was instead Teddy who popped up beside him. He resolved to keep walking, glancing back over his shoulder to see that Luca was indeed following him, but keeping a small distance between them.

“Come on, Jim,” Teddy pleaded, “I know you don’t like me. And I don’t blame you! But I’ve been trying to find you. I needed to talk to you. It’s gotta be fate that you just showed up at my booth!”

“I don’t believe in fate, Teddy,” he said, keeping his eyes forward, “And whatever you have to say, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Please,” Teddy said, falling behind, “It’s important.”

Street sighed, turning around and raising his hands in defeat, “What is it?”

“I’m sorry,” Teddy answered earnestly.

“Okay,” he said, “You done?”

“I’m sober now,” Teddy explained breathlessly, “I’d like to make amends. Admitting we were wrong and apologizing is a step in the program. That’s why I’ve been trying to find you. Even after all these years, I still feel awful about how things went down.”

“Good for you,” Street answered curtly, “But I don’t. I let it go.”

He turned to leave again, ignoring Teddy calling after him, “We both know you haven’t,” and kept walking.

“Hey,” Teddy said, turning to Luca, “If I give you my number, can you give it to him? See if he’ll call me?”

Luca hesitated for a moment, watching his friend go, “I don’t know…”

“Please,” Teddy begged, “Just give it to him. That way he at least will have the option to if he changes his mind.”

“What happened anyway?”

Teddy sighed, looking down at his feet, “I did a lot of drugs when I was younger. And because of that, I made a lot of mistakes. One of them was screwing over Jim. I’m in a program now! I’m trying to be better! I just want to make things right.”

Luca regarded the other man for a moment, “Alright. I’ll talk to him.”

“Thank you!” Teddy answered, leaping up slightly, “Thank you!”

Luca searched around for Street for a while, after calling him didn’t work. Eventually, he found him sitting on a stone bench beside a koi pond, staring into the water.

“Wow,” Luca commented, sitting beside him, “This place is fancy.”

“Did you see the Costco over there?” Street asked, gesturing over his shoulder.

“Eh, I like Costco,” Luca said. He waited a moment, deciding to speak up when it became clear that his friend wouldn’t, “So, what was that all about?”

His only answer was a shrug.

“Come on, kid. I thought you were still tight with your foster brother.”

“I am with a few of them,” Street said, looking over at Luca, "I had like… twelve? But I didn't get along with all of them.”

“Wow” Luca whistled, continuing slowly,” So… what did this one do?”

Street sighed, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Give me something! This is gonna bother me if you don’t tell me. I’ve got all these awful ideas floating around in my head!”

“I would literally rather watch Jaws with you than talk about this right now!”

“Really?” Luca asked before he shook his head, “But no deal. Whatever went down between you two, you’re clearly still upset over it. And he very clearly still feels guilty. You gotta talk to me. Maybe I can help.”

“He got me kicked out of one of the homes, alright?” Street said angrily, “We were fourteen and he was hopped up on drugs or alcohol or whatever the hell it was and he stole our foster dad’s wallet and stashed it in my backpack. So when they went looking for it, they found it on me.”

“Oh, man,” Luca sighed, “That’s rough.”

“The only home where I ever felt like the parents actually gave a damn about me and he cost me that. The mom helped us with our homework. The dad taught us how to fix his car. They’re little things, but I felt like part of a family when I was living there,” Street said softly, glancing down as he fiddled with his hands in his lap, “For a whole three months. And then they found the wallet and I was sent to a group home. The other kids were after me every day. But my social worker couldn’t find another home because apparently nobody wants you when they hear you’re a thief. I got labeled a discipline case after that and the only people who would take me were the hardasses.”

He was quiet for a while, just watching the fish swim through the water.

“I don’t even know why he did it. If he was deliberately trying to get me kicked out or if he was just covering his own ass.”

“The selfish one,” a quiet voice sounded from behind them, causing the pair to jump from their seats and turn around.

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough,” Teddy said, hesitantly stepping closer, “I wasn’t trying to get you sent away. I liked having you as a brother. I felt less alone.”

“Then why did you let them think it was me?”

“I… was scared,” Teddy answered softly, “It was my first home and I was a mess. After I sobered up and realized what I’d done… I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was terrified I’d get in trouble and I panicked. They knew I was no good, but they liked you. I thought maybe they’d cut you some slack. I saw your backpack sitting there and I just stuffed it in.”

Street didn’t have an answer for him, but he also wasn’t asked to leave, so Teddy took that as an opportunity to come closer into the group until he was standing right behind the chair the other man had been sitting in moments before.

“I’ve spent some time in a group home myself, I know how they can be. I’m sorry you got stuck somewhere like that because of me,” Teddy chuckled to himself darkly, “Actually, it was less than a month later. Mrs. Miller walked in on me rifling through her purse, realized they had been funding my habit and probably that they had been wrong about you.”

It was a tough position. It was a genuinely heartfelt apology and Teddy was obviously a better person than he had been when they were kids, but Street had never been good at the forgetting and forgiving. Hondo had noticed it when he’d first joined the team. He was angry and he held onto things. Ever since he’d joined the team though, it had become a little easier. On the rare occasions he managed to open up to his teammates, he found that the things he was carrying with him felt a little bit lighter. They made him want to let it go, they encouraged him to be better. He’d never get the chance to have it out with his father, and at this moment he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to forgive his mother, but he figured his foster brother would be a good place to start.

Glancing briefly at Luca for support, he squared his shoulders and took a deep breath, “I forgive you.”

“Really?!” Teddy exclaimed, clasping his hands together under his chin as he bounced back and forth on his feet in excitement.

“Yea, I-” Street started but was cut off as the other man surged forward past the chair and wrapped him in a tight hug.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Okay, okay,” Street answered, patting him gently on the back, “You can let go now.”

Teddy stepped back and Street noticed the look on his teammates face.

“What are you staring at?”

“I’m surprised,” Luca said, “I’m impressed, but I’m surprised. I thought I was gonna have to spend all day trying to get you to call him.”

“Shut up,” he scoffed, smiling at his friend.

Luca chuckled, turning to the other man, “So, Teddy, I have some herbs I want to purchase from you. But, Street and I were going to head back the house and watch Jaws later. You in?”

“We were not!” Street objected.

“Come on, Street. Consider it another opportunity for personal growth,” Luca waved him off, “Teddy?”

Teddy looked between the two, a big grin on his face, “I’d like that, yea. Thank you.”

“Alright!” Luca shouted, waving them onward, “Let’s go! We can pick up some take out on the way, on me.”

“He seems fun,” Teddy commented to Street as they followed behind him.

“He is,” Street said, “When he’s not making you watch stupid movies.”

Teddy chuckled, “At least you get a free lunch.”

“You know what? You have a good point,” he said, suddenly getting an idea, “You think I could convince him I’ve never seen Star Wars? That might earn a whole buffet.”

“You’re probably right,” Teddy laughed, “You know… he might be more likely to believe us if we say neither of us has seen it.”

“I couldn’t agree more!”

It was quite a feat, realizing that the man standing in front of him was a different person than the teen he had harbored so much rage for quite some time. In the grand scheme of things though, it had been a minor slight and Teddy had been like him. Just another frightened kid trying his best to hang on. Street couldn’t fault him for that. And he'd dared to admit his faults, something that Street himself was still working on.

Friends were something Street always seemed short of, and one could never have too many. It’d be nice, he thought, to work toward finding one in Teddy. Him seeming to share his love of messing with Luca was just the icing on the cake.


End file.
